Brady told reporters that among other things she planned to reassure Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who has expressed misgivingsabout the part of the bill requiring licensing of handgun purchasers, that the provision does not conflict with the Second Amendment.

Brady said it remains difficult to pass gun legislation in Congress but expressed optimism about the prospects of passing such a measurein Maryland. Brady is the wife of former White House press secretary James Brady, who was wounded and left paralyzed in the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Sarah Brady said she is now semi-retired from the Brady Center and her husband is retired.